Doc Martin, Series 2, 3, & 4

Read my review above. We never got bored, and in fact watched three or even four episodes a night until we had completed the series. It’s very good, we highly recommend it. The only trouble for Americans might be understanding all the dialogue, and unfortunately it is not subtitled for the Brit-English-Impaired. I didn’t miss many lines, but I’ve watched a lot of British movies. Martin Clunes does a fabulous job with this not-so-sympathetic character, and lets us see that inside the bluff exterior there is a feeling, lonely human being struggling to get out. He never overdoes it, but can convey a broad range of emotions just with his eyes, and his stammering, fumbling attempts to woo the town school teacher (Caroline Catz, also very good) though he has no better idea of how to go about it than to diagnose her every time they meet, and not often in a flattering way. A fifth series has been announced, to be filmed in 2011, and we will eagerly await the DVD.

The series takes place in fictional Port Wenn, and was filmed in Port Isaac, on the North Cornish coast. If you go to Google maps and zoom in on it, you will see the twin breakwaters and the tiny little cove that gets tides extreme enough to leave all the fishing boats stranded on dry land for half the day. And you will easily spot the other locations, including the little cottage (where many doors are about six feet tall; Martin Clunes is six-foot-three, but seldom bangs his head) where Doc maintains his surgery. With Street View you can actually drive by it. Lots of fun.